


Chained Memory

by RabbitsAreAwesome



Series: whumptober 2020 [1]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Angst, Blood and Injury, Burns, Grief/Mourning, Implied/Referenced Torture, Minor Character Death, Self-Harm, Takes place pre-game, Whump, Whumptober 2020, chained character, im sorry Edelgard, imprisoned character, no happy ending, this is not a nice fic, young!Edelgard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:47:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26766016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RabbitsAreAwesome/pseuds/RabbitsAreAwesome
Summary: Edelgard had dreams every so often in the dark tunnel that was her prison. They always involved her family when they were happy and free together. Her fondest memory was with her oldest-step sister.It’s a fragile memory. One that is worn at the edges and faded with time. But she holds on to it.
Relationships: Edelgard & her step-sister, Edelgard von Hresvelg & Edelgard von Hresvelg's Siblings
Series: whumptober 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1950856
Kudos: 9
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	Chained Memory

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time writing a oneshot for a challenge month. I am doing this as a part of the whumptober 2020. The theme for day one is "Let's Hang Out Sometime". In this case I have written a character who is imprisoned in chains. This is not a happy fic, forgive me Edelgard. There are several depictions of self-harm and minor character death.

Inside of an underground tunnel the sound of metal clanging together echoed through the cavern walls. Blue fire sparked along the walls as torches were magically lit. The only light in these dark halls was the eerie glow of the dancing flames. 

All the tunnel walls were evenly spaced apart by the rocky surface and metal bars separated the open rooms from the hall. Within these cells lay people of various ages, and even corpses of those dead in varying states of decay. 

Behind one of the bars lay a young girl no older than fourteen. She was curled in a ball close to the bars and her stark white hair reflected the torch's light. 

The young girl groaned as the light of the torches touched her pale face. 

* * *

Edelgard groaned as the familiar blue light reached her cell. She uncurled slowly from her sleep position and stood upon shaking legs. She hadn’t seen the sun in years, growing accustomed to the blue light as her only company. 

As Edelgard edged herself forward towards the bars she jumped as the shriek of a woman reached her ears. 

Her weak legs gave out and she scrambled away from the bars. She made it two feet before the chain upon her ankle halted her progress. 

The young girl pulled and pulled but the chain did not give. As the woman’s screams grew closer, Edelgard became more desperate. She started clawing at the chain around her ankle leaving red welts along her fair skin. 

_ Please, I don’t want to look, I don’t want to see who it is.  _

“STOP LET ME GO! YOU DON’T HAVE TO DO THIS!” 

The incoherent screams became clearer.

A static charge caused the hair on Edlegard’s arms to stand and the smell of ozone and burnt flesh flooded her senses. 

The screams stopped. 

Edelgard looked to the bars separating her from the tunnel and her eyes widened as she saw the figure the voice belonged to. 

_ Sister…  _

Her eyes filled with tears as her sister’s limp body was dragged behind the black masked mages. 

_ No! Please don’t take her from me! No! Nonononono _

Her older-sister’s head turned towards her as she was dragged past. Her hand reached towards Edelgard’s cell, the flesh was burned, the hand shook as she reached out. Her mouth moved slowly as she mouthed something only for Edelgard to see. 

The young girl's violet eyes welled with tears but she refused to let them fall. 

_ Please don’t let her suffer. Please let it be quick. I can’t stand to hear her cries anymore.  _

* * *

Edelgard had dreams every so often in the dark tunnel that was her prison. They always involved her family when they were happy and free together. Her fondest memory was with her oldest-step sister. 

It’s a fragile memory. One that is worn at the edges and faded with time. But she holds on to it. 

Her sister and Edelgard were in the courtyard. The sun was bright and the sky was cloudless. The birds' songs were gentle melodies. The smell of the various flowers was calming. It was the Garland Moon. 

She and her sister were out picking flowers by the fountain. The two found various flowers, there were roses, and dandelions, daffodils and violets. But then Edelgard’s sister grabbed a pile of small dark red flowers. Edelgard didn’t know what they were. 

She didn’t ask either. 

The two went and sat by the fountain and began to weave flower crowns for their family. It was going to be a surprise. The atmosphere was filled with a sort of excitement, the kind that starts with the smallest things, seemingly insignificant and yet meaningful all the same. It was the excitement of a child who had yet to know pain. 

Once the garlands were finished. With Edelgard’s small and clumsy fingers working the stems by attentively following her sister's steps, she was satisfied with presenting her crowns to her sister. 

Edelgard remembers her sister’s smile that day the most. Her sister’s long brunette hair gently blew in the wind. Her eyes the same color as Edelgard’s were soft and filled with a fondness Edelgard believes she may never see again. But her smile, her smile was closed lip but yet it was the most honest smile Edelgard had ever seen from her. 

With a gentle voice Edelgard’s step-sister praised the younger’s work. 

“They are beautiful, Edelgard.”

With gentle hands she picked up one of her own crowns. The craftsmanship was stellar compared to Edelgard’s own and yet she felt nothing but awe towards her sister’s skill. 

“Here this one is for you.”

The crown was placed upon Edelgard’s head. She reached up with eyes wide and brushed her fingers against the dark petals. 

“What are these flowers sister?” Edelgard finally asked. 

“They are carnations, they represent the love I will always have for you.” 

These dark red carnations meant the world to her. She took in their soft scent and she tried to commit it to memory. 

That day they sat under the sun, breathed in the scent of flowers, and listened to the soft melodies until Edelgard felt herself lulled to sleep by the gentle hands in her hair. 

It was one of the last times she felt the sun upon her skin before having her world trust into darkness.

That day was the first and the last she would see and smell these flowers for several years. 

It would be the last time that soft melodies and gentle hands would be enough to lull her to sleep. 

It was the last she saw her sister’s smile. 

* * *

Edelgard knew what was to come as her sister was dragged by her cell. With the memory fresh in her mind, her sister's final words were ingrained in her memory. 

Edelgard wished more than anything that she reached out to touch her hand. 

With her sister out of sight and with her the dark mages, Edelgard was unable to keep a few tears at bay any longer. She shuffled forward, the chain upon her ankle clinking with her movement. 

She touched the bars of her cell, she gripped them so hard her knuckles turned white with the force. 

_ I can’t turn away from this. She needs me to hear her.  _

In moments the screams started. Edelgard held onto the bars as her sister’s pleas and begs fell upon deaf ears. Edelgard couldn’t handle hearing her brothers’ screams but she would listen to her sister’s. Her sister whose visage is the only good memory she has left. 

The screams continued for hours. Until they too died out. The sound of the mages returning caused Edelgard to open her eyes. 

_ When did I close them?  _

Her grip on the bars loosened. And she waited for them to return. Edelgard watched as the mages dragged back her sister’s body. 

Edelgard froze. Her body had just been thrown into the icy waters of Faerghus. 

Her sister’s bright violet eyes were dull. Every visible part of her body was covered in burns, her face a bloody mess. 

Edelgard pushed herself so far so fast from the bars the chain on the leg stopped her from tumbling over. 

_ No! Nononononono! You weren’t supposed to leave me! Why?! Why weren’t you stronger?!  _

Rage, shock, despair and a plethora of other feelings all welled up in Edelgard’s small figure. She couldn’t separate them. She couldn’t even begin to process what she was feeling. It was just too much all at once. 

She wished the chain would let her retreat into the dark corners of her cell, so that she wouldn’t be forced to stare at her sister’s corpse any longer.

She was sickened. Actually sickened. Edelgard barely had time to turn so that the meager fluids she expelled wouldn’t land on her. She coughed and gagged due to the smells and sights and sounds that overwhelmed her completely. 

With her vomit at one end of the chain, and her sister at the other, Edelgard had no choice but to move forward and remain in the middle. 

Everything had felt like it occurred in hours, when it was mere seconds. 

After the mages left her sister’s body in her own cell and left the tunnel all together. Edelgard finally screamed. 

She screamed her voice hoarse. She was the last of her family. The only one left. She screamed and screamed. She grabbed the chain that pooled around her and pulled and pulled until her hands were raw. She scratched at the skin of her already raw ankle until blood was drawn. 

When she grew tired, she curled on her side, and covered her ears with her hands as if that would be enough to stop the sounds from echoing in her skull. 

She silently cried until her body was too exhausted to remain in the waking world. 

In her dreams she dreamt of a memory of carnations and birds and the sun and a gentle face with bright violet eyes and a soft smile. 

But that would last for only a moment. 

For the carnations sweet smell would be the smell of ozone, burnt flesh and bile. 

The bird's sweet song would be a cacophony of piercing screams and rattling chains. 

The sun’s orange rays would be blue flames instead. 

And the soft face would be covered in scarred flesh and the violet eyes dull. 

The smile would be steeped in blood. 

From her sister’s mouth the final words ever said to her would come spilling out past the blood…

“I love you Edelgard, always.”


End file.
